Questioning

The purpose of using questions is generally to encourage another person to provide you with information. In coaching situations there is an additional purpose for which questions may be used and that is to encourage the coachee to think about something.

Questions should be:
Simple “ words used should be easily understood .
Short “ longwinded questions may be misinterpreted.

Questions should be put:
Logically “ they are less confusing in a logical sequence.
Singly “ put one question or make one point at a time.

There are different types of questions, which have different purposes.

Open questions

Open questions are used when you wish to encourage the other person to talk to you and in doing so offer large amounts of information about the subject. This type of question is also used when you want the person to think widely around an issue or topic.

Famously, open questions begin with Kipling s ˜Six Serving Men ; we prefer ˜The Magnificent Seven :

• Who?

• What?

• Where?

• When?

• How?

• Which?

• Why?

As a result of asking an open question, your full attention is necessary and you will need to observe, listen to and check everything in order to truly understand what you are being told.

There are other words that are not questioning words which can be used to elicit information such as ˜Explain. . . , ˜Tell me. . . , ˜I m interested in knowing about. . . and ˜Talk to me about. . . .

Closed or narrow questions

These are questions that invite only a short, confined or even one word reply. They often restrict the information obtained to within the wording of the question. To most closed questions, there is a right or wrong answer. Many people frown on closed questions, but they do have their uses. They are useful when:

• seeking a ˜Yes or ˜No answer;

• selecting between alternatives;

• checking identity;

• clarifying a point.

Examples of closed questions are those starting with:

• Are you. . .?

• Did you. . .?

• Was it. . .?

• Can you. . .?

Leading questions

As a rule, in coaching, you should avoid using questions that may suggest the answer in their wording, that is, leading questions. For example, ˜Did it fail because you need more practice? . Coachees may give the expected answer just to be helpful, because they are confused or because they are frightened. They may believe that you know more about a subject than they do and feel unsure or foolish to contradict you. Leading questions may easily put information in their minds about things that they do not know for themselves , or produce ideas they have not previously formulated. However, leading questions can be useful to summarize or confirm information, eg ˜So what you are saying is. . . ? .

Echoing

This is the process of repeating a phrase or the last few words of a reply. Its effect is to act like a question to prompt elaboration of a specific point and invite the other person to continue speaking about the subject.

Echoing can be particularly effective when a person who has been talking freely , stops speaking. Using echoing shows that you are listening and encourages the person to continue.

Select relevant phrases or words and do not overuse this technique. Mindless repeating of words and overuse will have the opposite effect to what you intended and can show that you are not really listening.

You should take care that any emphasis you place on words repeated does not unintentionally indicate any judgmental feelings about the other person.

Use of silence

Whilst not strictly a question, silence can be used supportively or to prompt a reluctant person to speak.

Silence can feel uncomfortable for both people: there seems a natural urge to fill pauses or gaps. However, you can learn to use silence. The selective use of silence can be a powerful tool to prompt a person to speak. When a natural break seems right, a speaker will look at the listener and pause to allow the other to speak. By using an encouraging gesture and not speaking, the listener invites the person to continue. You should allow both the other person and yourself space and thinking time. You both can then assimilate information and formulate questions or replies. Breaking eye contact may encourage this to occur. When people concentrate hard they remain silent and normally focus on a neutral space such as the floor or the ceiling. Do not interrupt this process and you may obtain that extra piece of information.

In summary, here is a process for getting good information from other people:

• Be aware of the purpose of your discussion and use this awareness to help you focus it on the information that you need.

• Use open questions to expand the discussion.

• When you are looking for specific information, or when you wish to confirm your understanding, use closed questions.

• Use your body language and tone of voice to encourage the conversation.

• Check that what you have heard is what the person meant .

• Summarize your understanding of what you have heard.